Bhima Koregaon case: SC declines pre-arrest bail to activists

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a plea for anticipatory bail by activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navalakha in the 2017 Bhima Koregaon case and their alleged link with banned Maoist organisation, saying that it cannot be said that no prima facie case was made out against them.

The court, however, allowed the petitioners three weeks time to surrender before the National Investigation Agency, which took over the probe last month from the Maharashtra Police.

It considered the fact that they enjoyed protection from arrest for one-and-a-half year.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah dismissed their petitions also on the ground that there was a clear-cut bar to allow pre-arrest bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code to a person facing charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

“The petitions cannot be said to be maintainable in view of the bar contained in 43D(4) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,” the bench said.

The petitioners challenged the Bombay High Court's order of February 14, declining them bail.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A M Singhvi, representing the petitioners, contended they were peace activists and the alleged incriminating letters claimed by the prosecution were recovered from another accused.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, however, countered them saying the petitioners were members of a banned organisation and their custodial interrogation was highly necessary.

A group of activists had been arrested for their alleged role in organising Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017, which allegedly led to caste violence on January 1, 2018.